SurgeonPedia

The Nerdy Details

Role:
Product Designer / Design Lead
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Date:
January 2020
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Responsibilities:
User Research, UX Design, UI Design, Usability Testing
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Team:
XR Architect

Project Context:
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THE CHANCE OF A LIFETIME
‍This project appeared as an opportunity to work with another Innovation company. A high-performing Olympian Athlete was going to have shoulder surgery in three weeks and the doctor performing the operation wanted to use mixed reality in the OR as it was a very delicate procedure. It was the first operation preformed in Latin America using XR.

When me and the team’s XR architect were assigned the project, we got down to business.The task sounded pretty straightforward: To make sure the surgeon had the information he needed at hand so he could access it without having to leave the room.

For the second iteration, our Innovation Lead wanted us to create an ecosystem out of the prototype. After learning that 90% of surgeons use platforms like YouTube to study and prepare for procedures, we saw an opportunity and created SurgeonPedia.

Users:

THANK GOODNESS FOR ALL OUR MEDICAL CARE WORKERS!
This digital product was targeted to doctors and surgeons who preform difficult and high-risk surgeries and use digital platforms to prepare for operations and procedures.

Scope & Contraints:

TIME'S TICKING!
As we had a very limited amount of time, we made sure we didn’t waste a second. I also created this product as a side project in addition to my daily meetings and work.

Me and the XR Architect sat down to plan and learned the doctor was going to be using our Microsoft HoloLens for the operation.

This meant researching and making sure I had the HoloLens’s design guidelines down for a smoother experience.

Process:

LET'S BRING SCI-FI TO REAL LIFE
The journey began by visiting a few doctors and surgeons so we could get to know their specific needs in the OR.
We learned so much and some of our key findings were:

Doctors consult with other colleagues for advice and ideas on how to tackle an operation

Patient records are still physical

Doctors rely on another’s interpretation of the patient’s information in the OR

Preforming a high-risk surgery means running out of the OR to review X-rays & MRI/CT Scans making these procedures long

Surgeons rely on their memory of a scan during an operation

X-rays, MRI and CT Scans can only be opened using special software and take forever to load

With all this research, we each focused on our responsibilities. While the XR Architect was busy researching development guides for the HoloLens, I was busy looking into the design guidelines, best practices, software and hardware limitations etc. After I felt I had a strong knowledge base to start designing, we listed out the requirements and I got started sketching wireframes.

After a lot of crumbled up paper and lost pencils, I got down the final ideas that would be feasible in the amount of time we had left (two weeks). I created grayscale wireframes to start testing out the user experience.

I tested this version with 2 UX designers and the doctor. After making adjustments I designed the interface.

Then it was time. The surgery we were all waiting for happened. It was a complete success and the estimated time of surgery was reduced by 40%.
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We both got excellent feedback by Accenture’s Innovation Team, the partnered company, and the surgeon. The story was even featured on the news!

IT DOESN'T END HERE...
This project was submitted to Accenture’s Greater Than Awards which is a Global competition for projects that have made a big impact in the company and society. It ended up winning its category.

Then we were encouraged to submit our demo to Accenture’s Global Innovation & Technology Contest, which looks for crazy, innovative solutions to add value to the company. That’s when we started the second iteration…

The next iteration for this project was discussed with doctors who revealed they would love for the content to be shared with other colleagues.
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As we started the discovery phase for this next iteration, we had new findings:

90% of surgeons use video platforms to study and prepare for procedures

In the last 10 years there has been an increase in the medical content uploaded to video platforms

Out of 1800 Heart Transplant videos only 19% of them contained useful and relevant information

So we asked ourselves: How would a patient feel if they knew their surgeon watched a YouTube video to prepare for the surgery?
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We designed an integrated ecosystem that feeds itself accurate and relevant information for surgeons before, during and after surgery and called it SugeronPedia.

It’s made up of an extensive catalog of updated procedure videos that have been validated by specialists, giving doctors the ability to create playlists to prepare for an operation and get recommendations for their next surgery.

The platform follows a step-by-step approach to surgery videos which include, detailed voice notes from the surgeon and highlights of relevant and useful information they found in the OR.

During a procedure, the team needs to keep track of different sources of information and make a quick decisions based on that data.

While operating on the Olympic athlete, her vitals started dropping and at that moment, the doctor needed more information. Instead of sending staff to retrieve and interpret X-Rays, MRI/CT Scans, 3D models, or other data, or worse, stepping away her/himself… that’s when MR saved the day.

The HoloLens records all interactions, while providing access to the patient’s information and the playlist created for this surgery. With this feature we can empower doctors with information to make better decisions and reduce infection that could happen by touching physical objects.

The video would then be uploaded to the Content Creation tool where users can add relevant information about the procedure like notes, audios, drawings and highlights where it would then be validated by specialists.

All this translates to quicker recovery times, increased space in hospitals and improved tools to benefit patients.